Doggin' Northwest Florida

Places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail...Have you ever considered how far you walk with your dog? If you walk just 15 minutes a day you will have walked far enough in your dog's lifetime to cross the United States. With all that walking ahead of you, aren't you ready for a new place to take a hike with your dog? Doug Gelbert, author of 27 books on hiking with your dog, has brought his pack to Northwest Florida to sniff out the area's best tail-friendly parks and trails for the new book, DOGGIN' NORTHWEST FLORIDA: THE 50 BEST PLACES TO HIKE WITH YOUR DOG IN THE PANHANDLE. Northwest Florida can be a great place to hike with your dog. Within a short drive your canine adventurer can be climbing seaside dunes that leave him panting, trotting in rolling pinelands, exploring the estates of America's wealthiest families or circling lakes for miles and never lose sight of the water. DOGGIN' NORTHWEST FLORIDA explores the region's top trails with your best friend in mind...Where can your dog hike up a 3-story pre-historic mound? (page 83)Where can your dog hike through America's very first national tree farm? (page 24)Where can your dog look for rare white squirrels? (page 53) No Dogs!Is there any more dispiriting day for a dog owner than driving to a new park and encountering the dreaded "NO DOGS" sign? DOGGIN' NORTHWEST FLORIDA tells you the parks that don't welcome dogs. Also packed inside these 120 pages are......dog-friendly campgrounds ...tips on outfitting your dog for a hike ...tips on practicing low impact hiking with your dog...your dog at the beach ...and much moreWhat makes a great place to take your dog hiking? Well, how about a paw-friendly surface to trot on? Grass and sandy dirt are a lot more appealing than asphalt and rocks. A variety of hikes is always good - long ones for athletic dogs and short ones for the less adventurous canine. Dogs always enjoy a refreshing place to swim as well. For dog-friendly parks our guides describe the trail options for your dog, evaluate park traffic from other users, tell you whether you will need a guide dog to find your way around and, of course, tell you how to get to the park.While walking the dog, Gelbert also brings along generous helpings of local history, botany, geology, architecture and more. So what are you waiting for? Your dog will want to hike past the site of one of Florida's first oil wells (page 47), trot around a lighthouse that has lasted 165 years and survived 100 storms (page 23), visit the estate of the donor of tennis' Davis Cup (page 39)...